


Blunt Force Trauma

by NinetyNines



Category: The Glass Scientists (Webcomic), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Bodyswap, Head Injury, Identity Reveal, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:54:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23762647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinetyNines/pseuds/NinetyNines
Summary: Segways plot directly after Chapter 9 page 13: After getting hit in the head by an iron pipe of all things, Hyde is mentally knocked out leaving Henry Jekyll in control of Hyde's body, with no way to switch back in such an injured state. Delirious and found by his friends Robert and Rachel, Jekyll accidentally reveals his big secret and requires their help in order to keep the Society up and running without raising any suspicion from his disappearance. But after discovering freedom in the facade of Hyde's appearance, does Henry Jekyll really want to go back to who he was?
Relationships: Dr. Henry Jekyll/Dr. Robert Lanyon, Edward Hyde/Dr. Robert Lanyon, Jasper Kaylock/Rachel Pidgley
Comments: 26
Kudos: 142
Collections: fics that make my heart palpitate





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I just finished my exams for the year and just finished reading the last update, as with every update I started thinking and making theories and found this one too juicy to pass up! I know this is not how Sabrina's story will go, but I thought I would have fun with it. This is the first fanfic I've ever written so criticism is welcome! :)

All things considered, Robert Lanyon should have just stayed home. On top of his other business ventures, the Societies paperwork was becoming more and more strenuous by the hour, and although Henry insisted that it was his responsibility, Lanyon was damned if he didn’t at least take a little bit of stress off of Henry’s mind. With Hyde still on the loose, and all but one of the Lodgers abandoning the exhibition from Frankenstein’s sudden and traumatic appearance, God knows that Henry Jekyll could use all the help he could get.

Henry’s outburst at the party earlier was… concerning, to say the least. Henry had always been anxious at social events, it was evident the first time Lanyon ever got him tailored into a fancy suit and taught him how to dance. But despite his nerves, he had always saved his anxieties for the end each social event. Letting it all out afterwards in his office with a shot of bourbon or a glass of wine, often with Lanyon by his side. But despite his humble beginnings, Henry had an almost unnatural way of swaying the upper class into investments and support. His charisma and charm seemed to come from out of nowhere, and he was far more successful at working on the upper-class sensibilities than Lanyon ever was, especially when it came to some of his more outlandish business ventures like the Society for Arcane Sciences. It was almost like he was wearing a mask, a mask that Lanyon helped put together and that Henry was able to finish with more finesse than Lanyon could ever hope to accomplish. Lanyon thought he knew Henry well enough to know what was underneath that mask. But after tonight, something slipped through Henry’s façade, something not even Lanyon knew was there. He knew that Henry had been stressed as of late but to the extent of a full-on panic attack? To the extent of accidentally pushing Lanyon away? Something was going on, and he was sure that Hyde had something to do with it.

That is why despite his mind's best efforts to talk himself out of it, Lanyon found himself at the infamous _Blackfog Bazaar,_ home to the grimiest, most unnatural sciences that Lanyon had ever seen. Henry used to go on and on about the Bazaar while they were still in school. The majesty of it, how any number of scientific discoveries could be found within the vendor stalls if one only looked close enough. “ _A Whole Mine's worth of Diamonds in the Rough”_ Henry used to say to him with a glint in his eye. Henry always used to rant about topics like that. His eyes would light up as he spoke about the Bazaar and the famous mad scientists of the past as if he had actually been there or knew them. That was something Lanyon missed in Henry these last few years, that sparkle of excitement. It didn’t come out often anymore, he had seen it briefly at the theatre when he spoke of " _doing anything for science”,_ but nowhere near to the extent that Lanyon could remember.That was why, despite all of its shortcomings, Lanyon could see what Henry admired about the Bazaar. The people here truly did put the Mad in Mad Science, and many of the members of the crowd had the same glint in their eye that Henry Jekyll used to have in his youth. And Lanyon had to give it to them, there were certainly more interesting things to look at in the first three vendor stalls of the Bazaar than anything Robert Lanyon had been shown in med school.

Everyone had an air of something about them, however, what optimistic people might call wonder, intrigue, and excitement, Lanyon preferred to see as dangerous, deceitful, or even fraudulent. Amongst these riffraffs and outcasts, Lanyon stuck out like a sore thumb. He needed to finish his business and get out of here as soon as possible, before some street person got the nerve to steal his wallet or pick a fight with the stupid rich gentleman who came to the Baazar without changing out of his fancy suit first.

He was sure Hyde was here, and Lanyon had to find him. _How did Rachel describe him again? Blonde, spindly-legged, ragged clothes…_ the thought got away from him, there were just too many people here, and all of them looked ragged or unnatural in some way or another, exactly like Hyde had been described. He was beginning to get frustrated, _I could be standing right next to him and be none the wiser_. _What else did Rachel say he looked like? He’s prone to wearing green, isn’t he?_ Lanyon was just about to turn another corner thinking Hyde might be hidden in the audience of _Alice’s Circus of Wonder_ or be desperate enough to maybe hideout as a member of a _Cthulhu Cult_ until the search for him was finally over _._ Ideas continued to circulate Lanyon’s mind _,_ when the sound of a violent confrontation suddenly broke through the crowd, bits of dialogue catching Lanyon’s attention.

“…what are you even going to do with all that brimstone!?” One man yelled, before a second more high pitched voice screamed back, “…doing science with them you uneducated swine, now piss off!”

As Lanyon turned out of vague curiosity, the shorter of the two men immediately caught his attention. Blonde, spindly-legged, rugged green clothes with an intentionally torn cape, it couldn’t be, could it? Against his best judgment, Lanyon began to walk closer, not even considering how to get the men’s attention when they were clearly about to go into an all-out brawl. Lanyon was just about to open his mouth to say something when the presumed Mr. Hyde slipped a knife from seemingly out of thin air and took a swipe at the other scowling patron. Lanyon stopped dead in his tracks. In spite of his short stature, Hyde clearly drew blood from the grizzled cheek of the man above him. _How the hell am I supposed to drag him back to the Forty Elephant’s den if Hyde can injure someone practically a foot taller than him?_ Just as he was getting lost in thoughts of shock and concern, Lanyon was suddenly brought back to his senses. It seemed that the other patron wasn’t as easy to put down as Hyde thought. Lanyon looked on as Hyde turned his back and took just a second too long to laugh at his opponent. Time almost seemed to slow down as the other patron stood up, a glint of silver behind his back, and took a sudden swing at the back of Hyde’s mass of hair, hitting his skull. The hit was so hard, the loud **KONK** of metal could be heard reverberating above the sound of the moving crowd, a small portion of which had stopped to watch the scuffle.

“That’ll teach y’a! Nobody talks to me like that, not even behind me back! Now piss off ya blonde-haired gremlin!” The man laughed one last time, kicking Hyde into the post before he walked away with the brimstone. Seeing the excitement was over, the crowd dispersed as quickly as it formed, nobody even taking notice to Hyde as he remained slumped over on the post, people walking over his spindly legs as they passed by. Not knowing what else to do, Lanyon walked forward towards the man he had been looking for, and knelt in front of him.

“Excuse me, your Mr. Hyde I presume?” He said kneeling closer, “I’m Doctor Robert Lanyon, you may have heard of me, I’m an acquaintance of Doctor Henry Jekyll?”

There was no response from the man, and Lanyon was beginning to get concerned. Slumped over on the post there was no indication that he was at all conscious. His ragged clothes somehow looked more ragged than they had been before, covered in the muck from the Bazaar grounds, his top hat landing in the mud from the brawls ending blow, leaving his straggly bits of blonde hair disheveled and covering his face almost completely. Lanyon knew how bad blunt force trauma could be on the body, and it was far from an easy fix. Lanyon also knew that unless he could get Hyde to wake up, there was no way he could drag him out of the Bazaar and to Lucy’s den all by himself.

“Hyde!?” He said a bit louder, slapping his face lightly, lifting his head and trying to clear his face of hair.

“Wake up! I have questions for you! I can’t believe this…” He said finishing under his breath. _Well, I suppose he is rather small, maybe if I can lift him I could drag him to Lucy’s until he comes too?_ It was a long shot, but it was his best option by far, so he thought he might as well try it. He put his arm around Hyde’s torso, using his other hand to support his limp head, grimacing as he began to feel blood beginning to drip from the back of his skull and into his hands. _Okay._ He thought, _Lift on one, two, and…._

“Lanyon what do you think you are doing with him!?” Lanyon turned to the female voice so startled he almost dropped what little of Hyde he was supporting in the process.

“Rachel?” Lanyon said suddenly recognizing her, “What on Earth are you doing here? And how did you manage to find me out of all these people?”

“Well, I was looking for him.” She said rather agitated, “Get this, I’m about to have the first real snog of my life, with a man I actually like, and out of the blue I see him…” She says exactly pointing to Hyde on the ground, “…dead to the world for days, worrying me sick, hopping across rooftops like he’s on one of his nightly routines and isn’t a wanted felon on the run. So I stopped my fantastic night of romance to instead spend hours searching for him!” Finishing, she huffs angrily, crossing her arms.

Lanyon pauses for a second not knowing what to say. God knows what poor being she was trying to seduce this time.

“Anyways…” He finally said, “It’s actually good you’re here because I do require some assistance with him…” He says looking in Hyde’s general direction.

“What’s wrong with him? I knew he would probably be drunk when I found him but I didn’t think he’d be knocked out.” Walking closer, she starts to grab Hyde’s other side.

“He’s not drunk…” Lanyon says beginning to lift him with little coordination. _Gosh is Rachel really that short?_ He thinks before pushing away the distraction. “I found him just as he was starting a brawl, some madman hit him with a pipe across the head after he insulted him, I felt blood on the back of his head, I think he really needs to be bandaged up before we can talk to him.”

Rachel’s eyes widened as soon as he finished. “We need to get him to Lucy’s immediately, I can’t believe he did something like this! Actually, I do believe it, he’s Hyde for God’s sake, but I’m still not happy about it.” She huffs as they both try to hoist him up again. Without warning a moan suddenly broke through Hyde’s mess of hair.

Lanyon and Rachel both looked at him startled.

“That’s a good sign,” Lanyon said dismally, “He hasn’t made a sound since he was knocked out, not even when I slapped him.”

“Well, Hyde has always been one to recover quickly.” She said quite sure of herself, “His energy is a lot like a hyperactive child, and you know what they say about dropping kids, they always bounce back.”

“I don’t think anyone says that Rachel, dropping children is quite a serious matter and can lead to lifelong problems…”

“You know what I mean! He’ll be fine, we just need to get him to my sisters and patch him up, and he’ll be up and talking in no time.”

 _Hopefully,_ Lanyon thought, _then maybe I can ask him what his place is in all this mess._

Lanyon needed to know what Hyde was to Henry, he was always confused as to why Henry had hired such a lowlife. Everyone knew Hyde was a thief and a ruffian, or at the very least presented himself as such. Lanyon’s best guess was that Henry had taken pity on the young man, he always did hold a penchant for lost creatures, especially the monstrous. But he couldn’t help thinking that there was something more to it than that, especially with all that Hyde’s done to his reputation, and how off Henry had seemed lately. Henry always protected Hyde way more than he logically should, and it worried him to think that Hyde might have something to do with Henry’s panic attacks, or his rant from earlier that night, and the secrets he’d been keeping from Lanyon lately. Thoughts continued to fill Lanyon’s head as they dragged the so-called “Spirit of London at Night” through the empty back alleys and low lit pathways on the way to Lucy’s.

However, no one seemed to notice that as the limp body was being dragged across the cobblestones, the green-eyed night spirit’s eyes slivered open just enough to instead reveal a very dazed and confused pair of soft russet-colored eyes. Unable to see through the blond fluff and darkness blocking his vision, he slipped in and out of consciousness, vaguely annoyed and thinking that he should be doing paperwork instead of being on some midnight escapade. _How did we get here again?_ He thought to himself. “Hyde?” He said so softly that no one, not even himself could hear it through the ringing of his ears. _Of course, you won’t answer me._ _This is all your fault…_ And that was his last thought he had as he slipped away into darkness once more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get some of the events from Jekyll's point of view, and Lanyon is beginning to get impatient carrying Hyde's dead weight around London's underbelly.

Much like his friend Robert Lanyon, Henry Jekyll really should have just stayed home that night, but unlike his friend, Jekyll had very little choice in the matter. The last few days had been horrific enough on their own. With Frankenstein’s sudden appearance, the Lodger’s abandoning him and the exhibition, and Hyde unleashing his army of nightmares on his every waking moment, all things considered, Hyde seizing control and pushing him into the very depths of their shared mind was just the tip of the iceberg. Jekyll was struggling to imagine how his life could possibly get any worse in his current state of being. He knew Hyde had wanted out, _Hell, Hyde always wanted out_ , but he didn’t think he would go this far to get what he desired. Torturing Henry in the daylight was one thing, but seizing control and gallivanting into the night while being wanted by the police was another. And now he couldn’t even tell what was happening to him on the outside. 

It seemed like he had been stuck in the cabinet with the weird embodiment of his friend Lanyon for hours, or even days for all he knew, after all, he had no way to tell how much time had passed since he lost control. _My god is this how Hyde feels when I’m in control for too long?_ He thought to himself. At least time in this strange mindscape let him learn a thing or two about his strange situation. One, that according to Mind Lanyon, these _nightmares_ that Hyde had set loose on him were just expressions of some of his unconscious primal fears that he didn’t even know were there. And two, that with some self-reflection, Henry realized that he had no idea how the transformation potion worked. The idea of the potion had seemed so simple when he had first been trying to make it. A potion that could split an individual into their two parts, good and evil, so that in separation, the dueling parts may finally be free of the other once and for all. However, not only did his potion not work the way it was intended to, it proved that Jekyll’s theory of duality, was for a lack of better terms, _utter bullshit_. It seemed that the pure duality between good and evil within an individual was simply impossible to put into reality. There were too many overlaps in a person’s identity, too many variables. While one may consider an action to be evil, the reason behind said action may be for a noble cause, and vice versa. Jekyll had been too young and naïve to see it before, the human soul wasn’t some chemical concoction that one could dilute and isolate into separate parts like a simple salt lab, it was more like he was trying to take an already baked cake and separate it back into flour and eggs, _practically impossible_ he thought to himself _unless one had a time machine_ he supposed. And despite everything Hyde claimed to be, he certainly wasn’t evil, not by any definition of the word. Immature, rash, and selfish, definitely, maybe even diabolical, but certainly not evil. _And if he wasn’t evil…_ thought Jekyll once more … _than what was he?_

Mind Lanyon’s voice suddenly broke his thoughts, “What are you thinking about now?” he said quite pensively.

Jekyll lifted his head from its former spot between his legs to answer the strange embodiment of his friend.

“I was just thinking about Hyde again, and about how stupid I was to think I could actually separate evil from myself…” He paused reflecting again, “…You know I just wanted to make myself good, a proper gentleman with no vices, like Lanyon… well you know _real_ Lanyon was always trying to teach me, and clearly, I failed.” He sighed, agitated, and anxiously thinking more on the situation he had gotten himself into, “I haven’t even got a good explanation as to what Hyde is, nevertheless how to reverse the process.” He said raising his hands in the air, obviously frustrated. Mind Lanyon looked at him sighing, before opening his mouth to reply.

“You’re overthinking things, right now it doesn’t matter what Hyde is, all that matters is how you’re going to take back control… you’ve been in here for hours, and Hyde’s been out there doing God knows what.”

“Didn’t you just hear me?” Jekyll retorted back, “I don’t know how the potion works, I can’t just get rid of him, especially not from here.” He said, using his hand to reference the imaginary wooden closet they had been in for the past few hours. 

Mind Lanyon sighed again, frustrated at Henry’s lack of understanding.

“I’m not talking about _reversing_ the potion.” Mind Lanyon said quite sarcastically, “At least not yet, what I’m talking about is taking control of Hyde…so that you can fix things and get out of here.” Henry huffed once more, bringing his hands to his face to try to relieve some of the never-ending tension going through his head.

“How am I supposed to accomplish that?” He replied quietly, “I am locked in a cupboard, surrounded by nightmares, with only you to comfort me, and if you haven’t noticed, _Hyde is in control_ , I can’t just make him take the potion.” 

“Why not?” Mind Lanyon said, “Hyde took control of you without the potion, that’s what got you into this mess in the first place.”

Jekyll paused for a second. Mind Lanyon was right! If Hyde could take control from the inside, why couldn’t he? It should be possible, right? But the question was, _how?_

“How do I do it!?” he said standing up so fast he almost hit his head on the imaginary ceiling.

“Well if you’re going to try, I don’t think it’ll be possible from in this tiny space.” Mind Lanyon said, “You are going to have to get closer to the surface.”

“The surface?” Jekyll questioned, confused. Mind Lanyon huffed for probably the fourth time in the conversation.

“Did you even take psychology in school…” he said under his breath, “You need to climb up to the _surface level consciousness,_ right now we are in the _subconscious_ , we’re not in very deep, so it shouldn’t take you too long to climb up, you just need to get past the nightmares.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?” Jekyll snapped back.

“You can leave that to me”, Mind Lanyon said decisively, “I’ll act as a distraction, I’ve escaped them once before, and even if they catch up to me, I can’t really die, I am just a construct of your mind, after all, I’ll come back in some form or another.”

“Okay”, Jekyll said softly, “That sounds like a good plan, and then once I’m there I’ll just, try to take control?” 

Jekyll had no idea how he was actually going to accomplish the means of such a maneuver, but if Hyde could do it, he supposed so could he.

“Alright,” Lanyon said, “On the count of three, I’m going to make a run for it, once the nightmares start going after me, you start trying to climb out of here, got it?”

Jekyll nodded, still unsure of himself, “I think I can do this,” he lifted his head looking straight at Lanyon, “I have too, otherwise I’m ruined.” 

Lanyon nodded, looking at Henry with perhaps the first shred of emotion he’d had on his face all night.

“Okay Henry, let’s do this.” He opened the door just enough to see the blue ghosts of nightmares only a few feet away, before looking back at him, “Just remember Henry….” He said pausing for a second, “…no matter what Hyde is, _you_ are still the good one.” Henry looked down once again, uncertain if what Mind Lanyon said was true or not. Mind Lanyon turned once again towards the door, “Okay, one, two, and THREE!”

Mind Lanyon made a mad dash for the other side of… whatever type of room this was supposed to be. It seemed barely a second had passed before the nightmares had turned their backs towards the running embodiment of Jekyll’s perfect idea of a gentleman, and even less than a second after that before they started chasing after him. Despite the guilt he felt for abandoning the imaginary construct in his mind, Jekyll took the opportunity and bolted out of the closet. Jekyll almost seemed to float upwards as he ran up the staircases leading upwards out of his mind, thinking all the while about how much he wanted to get out of this place, how much he just wanted to be in control of his estranged life for once. Jekyll didn’t dare look back in fear that the nightmares might have noticed him and stopped chasing Mind Lanyon in favour of their real intended victim. Jekyll just kept running, blue wisps of his ghostly construct streaking behind him.

At some point in his climb, Jekyll started to hear things, a crowd, vendors yelling out deals about seemingly magical goods, snake oil cure-alls, and miracle elixirs. _The Blackfog Bazaar_! Jekyll suddenly realized, _that street urchin actually led us there!_ He thought almost smiling at the idea that he might also get to see the wondrous fair like he always dreamed of in his youth. Pushing the thoughts away, Jekyll continued running upwards, starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel of stairs, and maybe even a picture? _Yes!_ Jekyll thought to himself _I’m practically there! I can’t wait to see the look on Hyde’s face when I…_

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud voice from up above, “…what are you even going to do with all that brimstone!?” One voice yelled, “…doing science with them you uneducated swine, now piss off!”

_Oh no…_ Jekyll thought _Hyde’s getting into another brawl! I need to gain control. **Right.** **Now.**_ Jekyll ran even faster than before practically flying through the air, barely touching the imaginary stairs. The last thing he wanted was to gain control only to be incapacitated on the streets bloodied and covered in bruises, _again,_ he thought thinking of Hyde’s previous street fights _._

He was thinking even harder than before about how much he needed to stop Hyde when within an instant, an onslaught of pain brought Jekyll to his knees, causing him to clutch his throbbing head in pain. He couldn’t hear anything other than the ringing of his ears and the vague sound of metal vibrating through his mind. He could taste and smell blood so strongly he wanted to throw up. He had no time to think as the tunnel of light suddenly rushed towards him blinding his vision. He couldn’t tell if time was moving slowly or if minutes were going by in what seemed like seconds. It was like he was back in the cabinet again, unable to tell how much time was passing around him, except this time he was blind and incapacitated. Through the ringing of his ears, he started to hear snippets of people talking above him, “…what are….doing with him!?”, “…madman hit him with a pipe…”, “…get him to Lucy’s immediately…” 

_I must be getting delirious,_ thought Jekyll through the fog, _that can’t be Lanyon and Rachel here… what would they be doing at Blackfog?_ Jekyll could barely think, but could vaguely feel himself being moved forward, his feet getting caught on the cobblestones below him, each hit causing a searing pain in his head as he moved in and out of consciousness. _How did we get here again?_ He thought to himself, seeing if Hyde would respond. Although he hated to admit it, hearing Hyde’s voice would be a small comfort, acting as a distraction from the intense pain piercing through his skull. Breaking through the fog, Jekyll was able to open his eyes just a sliver, seeing nothing but darkness in front of him. “Hyde?” He croaked out through his dry throat, unable to even hear himself. With no one able to hear him, Jekyll accepted his fate and slipped back into the darkness of sleep, but not before first thinking to himself, and to Hyde if he was listening, _of course, you won’t answer me._ _This is all your fault…_

_\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

By the time Lanyon and Rachel reached the _Forty Elephant’s Den_ , both of them were severely out of breath.

“You would think…” Lanyon sputtered between breaths, “That for someone so short he would be a bit lighter.”

“Well…” Rachel breathed back, “…all that matters is that we got him here didn’t we? Now let’s get him to Lucy, she’ll be able to fix him up, she always has bandages for the girls, occupational hazards…being thieves and all that.” She paused for a second catching her breath, “Hold him, I need to knock on the door so they can let us in…”, She suddenly dropped the full weight of the man on Lanyon, catching him so off guard he almost dropped Hyde’s face straight onto the cobblestone. Lanyon looked down at Hyde’s face, _He almost looks innocent when he’s in this state_ , thought Lanyon.

Shifting the weight of Hyde to his other side to get some relief, he started counting the seconds as Rachel knocked on the door, once, then twice, a slight pause, then a quick three knocks in a row.

_Stupid thieves and their special codes, how long before I get to drop this ruffian?_

“You better be worth all this trouble.” Lanyon said plainly, looking down at Hyde once more, “If I didn’t need to speak with you so urgently, I would have left you bloodied and bruised on that post, in fact, I wouldn’t have even been at the Bazaar to see you in such a state if that were not the case!”

Lanyon huffed, shifting his weight once more.

“Rachel how long is this going to take, like I said, Hyde’s not as light as he looks!” 

“Just hold on a minute, sometimes they take a while to answer…”, Just as she was about to continue, a small panel opened in the middle of the door, lighting up the small alleyway and revealing a small face covered in blonde ringlets and rouge circles dominating her over powdered face. It reminded Lanyon of some of the girls he’d seen gallivanting close to the Whitechapel District late one night after leaving a proposed business meeting. Needless to say, after seeing the surrounding area, Lanyon did not look into the investment any further.

“Oh, Rachel! I thought it was you!” The lady said with a big smile on her face, “What brings you here so late at night! It’s practically dawn!”

“Oh my God, Mary-Anne it’s so good to see you where have you been?”

“Well I got myself into a little bit too much trouble with the Peelers out on the streets, so I had to stay on the down-low until Lucy gave the all-clear for me to be out and about again if you know what I mean… but enough about me, what have you been up to!?” 

Rachel’s eyes lit up, “Well you will not believe the night I’ve had so far. So first of all, a few days ago I met the most adorable little thing…”

Lanyon groaned, it was going to be ages until they were going to get inside at this point!

“I can’t believe this shit…” Lanyon muttered to himself, rolling his eyes. Once again he shifted Hyde’s weight onto his other side.

However, a large moan suddenly brought his, Rachel’s, and even Miss. Mary-Anne’s attention back to the situation at hand.

“Looks like your friend’s had too much to drink,” Mary-Anne stated plainly.

“He’s not drunk, he’s got severe head trauma!” exclaimed Lanyon clearly annoyed, “Now please tell Miss. Lucy that she can call off her lady spies, we’ve found Mr. Hyde and he needs to be bandaged up right now!” As Lanyon finished, he let out a sigh of annoyance as he tried to hoist Hyde up off the ground once more.

“Alright, don’t get your knickers in a twist, let me just tell Lucy why you’re here and find the key to open this door, hold on this might take a second…” Lanyon groaned once more as the lady rushed out of sight.

“You know it didn’t take this long last time.” Stated Lanyon as a matter of fact.

“Well last time it wasn’t Mary Anne who answered the door, do you know how long it’s been since I’ve seen her?”

“You know I really don’t care how long it’s been…” Lanyon’s annoyance was broken by yet another moan by Hyde, however this time it was accompanied by a small splattering of words, just barely being coughed out, by the bloodied man in Lanyon’s arms.

“Rob...Robert? What...What in the blazes are you doing here? Did you escape the nightmares?” he muttered barely looking up.

Rachel and Lanyon looked down at his limp head, eyes wide.

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Lanyon said softly. Rachel looked up at him from Hyde’s exhausted form just as confused.

“I thought you said you two had never met.” She replied faintly. Lanyon raised his head to Rachel, visibly confused.

“We haven’t…” He said, pausing.

_How the hell did he know it was me?_ He thought to himself. _He didn’t even open his eyes, and his head’s been drooped down practically this whole time…”_

Just as Lanyon was about to say something, the door suddenly opened with a loud creak, Mary-Anne, now fully visible in her tattered dress ushering them inside.

“Lucy says you can bring him in, she says she’d like to have a few words with Mr. Hyde whenever he’s awake.”

_You and me both._ Thought Lanyon as he carried Hyde though the door, more confused than he had been just moments before.

_I really should have stayed home to do paperwork tonight._ He thought to himself as the door closed behind them, leaving the alleyway dark once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, it turns out I had a lot more to say about Jekyll's self-reflection and place in the mindscape than I thought. Also if we're going with soul=cake metaphor, what Jekyll basically accomplished with the potion was scrapping off the icing that makes the cake super exciting, to begin with. But as we all know, icings not evil, just a little bit bad for your health in large portions. I also hope you liked Lanyon and Rachel's bit, I'm really trying to hone in on her character in the comics and easily distracted and excited she gets over so many things, but also how much she cares about people. Anyways, the next chapter will hopefully be really good, like I said it's my first real work of fiction I've ever written more than three pages for so all criticism is welcome :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lanyon and Rachel have a heart to heart moment before Henry finally comes to and identities are realized.

“Tell me again where exactly you found this mess?” Lucy questioned, confused as she looked down at Hyde lying silently on the bed, before looking up to Rachel and Lanyon again.

“Well... he was… at the Bazaar. He got hit in the head with a pipe arguing with another patron.” Rachel finally said, desperately trying to explain the situation. Lucy put her hand to her temple trying to understand the strange story. She sighed before opening her mouth again.

“Well the brawl doesn’t surprise me,” She said quite dispassionately, “ _Moneybags_ has been in so many fights over the past two years it’s impossible to keep count. What does confuse me however, is why exactly a man who has been impeccably quiet for days on end to the point of being impossible to trace, would suddenly show up at London’s biggest, most illegal festival with so little care for his safety he didn’t even try to hide his appearance.”

“I was wondering the same thing, amongst other things…” Lanyon said to himself, “I was hoping to speak with him but as you can see he’s quite incapacitated at the moment. We were hoping you might be able to help us bandage him up, Rachel says you have the supplies…”

“Very well.” Lucy said interrupting him, “But only because Rachel’s my favourite sister in law, bandages don’t come cheap you know, ‘specially not ‘round here. And when he’s awake, I want to question him. He’s caused quite a ruckus in the streets since he showed up two years ago, and his little disappearing act as of late has me all the more intrigued.” Lucy turned to face her wall of clues surrounding Hyde once more, “There’s just something off about this whole affair. He’s not just some simple street urchin, and he’s definitely not some rich boy playing thief, it’s almost like he’s…”

“A night spirit?” Rachel suggested quite sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Lucy shook her head smiling.

“I was going to say a figment, but that’s only because I have no other word for it. I’ll send the girls up with supplies, let me know if he wakes up anytime soon. He’s at least worth an interesting conversation.” Lucy twirled away from them, closing the door behind her.

Lucy and Lanyon stayed quiet after that, even as the supplies were brought in and Lanyon started to finish bandaging up the blonde mess in front of him, minutes passed without a word spoken between them.

“He looks quite silly like that.” Rachel said, finally breaking the silence, “His hair I mean, it’s all pushed down because of the bandages, it makes the top of his head look like a big hat.” Lanyon smiled, looking at Rachel once more.

“I suppose your right,” he said softly, “At least the bleedings stopped, I think the cut came from the fall to the ground and not the pipe, he probably still has some internal damage though, which is cause for concern.”

Lanyon paused, unsure of what to say next in their awkward situation. He was going to take another look at the bandages when he heard a small whimper coming from beside him. It seemed that despite her best efforts, Rachel’s eyes began to well up with tears. “Do you… Do you think he’ll be okay?” she choked out, “I’m sorry it’s just, it just hit me how bad of a shape he’s in… he’s had some pretty bad scrapes in the past, but seeing him like this….” She sighed, taking a moment to breathe, “I just worry about him, you know? I don’t think he knows what he’s doing most of the time and he has no one to look out for him except for me and Jek-well I suppose, only me now.”

Lanyon took a moment before holding Rachel’s hands in his own, trying to comfort her, “Listen,” he said, “I know I’ve never really been the biggest supporter of Hyde, especially with his… odd relationship with Henry, but I promise you, as a doctor, I’ll take care of him as best I can, and I won’t hand him over into police custody, at least not until I know he’s okay.”

That seemed to make her feel just a little bit better, as she leaned in for a hug. Truth be told, Lanyon didn’t know if he could keep his promise about Hyde, especially after everything that’s been happening with Henry as of late. However, at the moment, he was at least in agreeance with Rachel about how worried they should be about Hyde’s health. Blunt force trauma was serious and could have terrible long-lasting effects. Depending on the seriousness of the injury, Hyde could have symptoms ranging from migraines and dizziness to full-on amnesia or loss of motor functions. Only time would really tell how serious the problem was. _We don’t even know how long he’s going to remain unconscious for,_ thought Lanyon dismally, _it could be hours, maybe even days before he wakes up-_

“Rachel? Lanyon? Why are you watching me sleep?” A slurred voice said interrupting Lanyon’s thoughts. Rachel suddenly gasped running towards Hyde beginning to cry once more, this time with joy, as she embraced him in her arms.

“I can’t believe you’re okay!” she said sobbing, “I was so worried you’d have amnesia or be unable to speak or… or”

“Of course I’m okay,” he said through Rachel’s shoulder, “Why wouldn’t I be?” he said quizzically, “Did something happen?”

Rachel paused, releasing him and giving herself a moment to wipe away her tears with her arm.

“You…You were in an accident.” She said plainly, before getting her thoughts together. Looking at him again, she started to grow concerned once more, “How are you feeling? You don’t really sound like yourself…” she had a sudden realisation that his voice… it was much softer than she had ever heard it be before. _It must be from the trauma,_ she thought to herself, _he can’t have the energy or the thought capacity right now to possibly be his usual snarky self._

“I don’t know…” he replied slowly, “….my heads kind’ve fuzzy, and I…I…” Looking up, he suddenly remembered Lanyon was in the room, “Lanyon why are you looking at me like that?”

While Rachel had been busy relinquishing in Hyde’s sudden recovery, Lanyon had been silent, with a pensive look on his face, directed straight at Hyde.

“How do you know me?” Lanyon finally said, arms crossed, walking towards the bed.

“I’m sorry?” He replied.

“I said, how do you know me? I’ve never seen you before in my life yet you were able to recognise me immediately. Right now face to face, and before in the street just from hearing my voice.”

Lanyon paused, looking at Hyde’s hair covered face. The face didn’t look surprised, but more concerned than anything else.

“Lanyon what are you talking about we’ve known each other for-for years…” his voice drifted off, lost in thought. Rachel still between the two men, turned to look at Hyde concerned.

“Are you sure there’s nothing else wrong with you right now?” she asked once again, “You just… don’t seem like yourself…”

 _He’s almost reserved, like a proper gentleman,_ Rachel thought to herself noting his posture.

“Never mind that,” Lanyon said breaking her thoughts, “I need to know what his place is in all this, he’s been enough trouble for us tonight, and while I admit he is in fairly bad condition, the very least he can do is try to explain himself.” Lanyon stopped for a second, taking a moment to self reflect.

“All I want to know,” he said looking between Rachel and Hyde, “Is what your relationship with Henry Jekyll entails.”

The room was dead silent, with both Rachel and Lanyon’s eyes locked on Hyde.

“I…I don’t know what you mean Lanyon,” He finally said, breaking the tension, “I am Henry Jekyll.”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing Henry Jekyll thought of as he woke up, was how nice it felt that his ears had stopped ringing. He slowly opened his eyes just a sliver, immediately taken back by how bright the room seemed to be, before taking in his bearings. Things seemed to feel strange to him at the moment, the world was fuzzy around the edges almost as if he was in a dream. Only half awake, he realized that Lanyon and Rachel were in the room with him, and Rachel was… crying?

“Rachel? Lanyon? Why are you watching me sleep?” He managed to croak out. Practically before he even finished, Rachel rushed towards him embracing his body in her arms. Everything after that point seemed to grow even more confusing than it had been before. Without thinking, words started tumbling out of his mouth as Rachel started asking him questions, and then there was Lanyon he realised… looking at him with that weird look on his face. Everything was just too hard to focus on. He was just confused….so confused…. _Why is he so upset with me?_ Thought Henry as Lanyon went on about his condition, not being able to catch all of the dialogue. _Everyone’s talking so fast_. _I can’t even keep up._

“All I want to know,” Lanyon said finally breaking through Henry’s fogged mind, “Is what your relationship with Henry Jekyll entails.”

The strange sentence brought Jekyll back into reality. Taking a moment to breathe in the room’s tension, without thinking he calmly replied, “I…I don’t know what you mean Lanyon….. I am Henry Jekyll.”

The simple sentence somehow caused the room to become even quieter than it was before. Clutching the blanket in front of him, Jekyll watched as Lanyon slowly walked towards him.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull…”Lanyon said, eyes wide, “but you are not Henry Jekyll.”

“But I-I…” Henry stuttered, not knowing what to say. Not knowing what else to do, he turned to Rachel who looked almost as lost as he was, “Rachel what is he talking about? I am Henry Jekyll, I’m me, I’m…”

“Stop saying that!” Lanyon said arms raised, “I don’t care how injured you are, you don’t get to just sit there after everything you’ve done and pretend to be someone else. You are just some poor kid that was pulled off the street, don’t forget that.”

Henry was suddenly taken aback, thinking of all those seemingly endless nights with him and Lanyon. Lanyon teaching him to become a gentleman, teaching him how to dance proper like, how to do small talk with the upper class, how to wear a suit, how to just _be good._

 _Is that what he thinks of me after all this time?_ Henry thought to himself, _I really am a failure on the inside… rotten to the core… I haven’t changed…_ Henry’s thought began to deteriorate, distraught at his friend’s words. Wiping his eyes of any tears, Jekyll pushed the hair out of his face, looking up at Lanyon, opening his eyes fully so he could see the face looking down on him.

“I’m so sorry you feel that way.” Jekyll said softly.

But looking up at him now, Jekyll was distressed to see Lanyon looking at him, not with disgust or anger like he was expecting, but instead, with shock.

“Lanyon?” Rachel said interrupting the moment between them, “Are you done berating Hyde? I know you don’t like him but he’s clearly delusional from the head trauma and-”

“Rachel…” Lanyon said suddenly, interrupting her, “Look at his eyes.”

“What do you mean _look at his eyes_ ,” She said frankly, “There’s nothing wrong with them they’re just…oh.” She said suddenly realizing the same thing Lanyon had. Both of them stood there, mouths open, as they took in how the famously vibrant green eyes Hyde was known for, were instead a deep russet red, now lined with tears.

“Why aren’t they green…” Rachel said slowly, “Is it some sort of symptom from being hit hard on the back of the head?”

Jekyll looked between the two of them, less distraught than he was before, and now simply dazed and agitated by his friend's words.

“What’s wrong with my eyes!?” He asked them, concern growing within him, “-and Rachel, why did you say Hyde? What’s going on?”

His headache was starting to come back, as the stress caused a searing pain to go riding through his skull. _What are they talking about?_ Jekyll thought, _Hyde’s not here they have no reason to talk about him, and my eyes…what’s wrong with my eyes?_ Distraught and concerned, Jekyll once again brushed the hair out of his face annoyed, and confused and-

 _Oh no,_ Jekyll thought suddenly realizing, _my hair, why do I have to keep pushing it out of my face? It’s never that long…_

Looking at his hands, he slowly unclenched the blanket he’d been holding, before slowly grabbing a strand of messy hair and bringing it to the middle of his face, his eye’s widening with fear at the sight of the light blonde fluff that clearly wasn’t his. _I look like Hyde,_ he thought, putting the dots together _, that’s why I- why Lanyon- he said-_

Jekyll started breathing rapidly, unable to complete a single thought under the stress he suddenly found himself under.

“Hyde? Lanyon? Why isn’t anyone talking?” Rachel questioned, just as bewildered as the rest of them, “What’s going on!?”

“His eyes…” Lanyon said almost shaking, “Those are _Henry’s eyes.”_ Lanyon quickly walked towards the bed, kneeling down beside Jekyll, grabbing his shoulders. Jekyll was practically on the verge of a full-on panic attack, his vision growing fuzzy and his skull blazing from all the stress and confusion and the brightness of the room, and now everyone talking all at once _, it was driving him mad._

“Henry!” Lanyon said distraught, “You really are Henry aren’t you? Oh my god, Henry, I am so sorry…” Lanyon looked down, suddenly realizing the weight of what he said to his friend just moments before, “I-I’m not sure what’s happening…” he admitted to himself, “…but I shouldn’t have said those things to you, I’m so sorry Henry, you’re better than that, so much better…”

Lanyon paused for a second giving himself time to breathe, “Henry?” he questioned once more. Looking up at his friend, it was clear that Jekyll’s mind had slipped off, as he was staring at the wall with an almost blank expression on his face, save for the wetness in his eyes.

 _I have no other choice,_ Jekyll thought to himself finally coming back to his senses, _I’ve put this off for far too long, they deserve to know._

“Lanyon, Rachel…” he started, both of them looking at him intently, “I think I owe you an explanation about some of the secrets I’ve been keeping from you for about the past two years now…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has read this fic, I am so happy it was able to reach 100 hits! Anyways, this chapter was extremely difficult to write, as I wanted to make sure Henry's condition seem realistic but had no idea how to show the fogginess in his head using the written word, I hope it turned out okay. He's basically out of it for most of this chapter, with his head becoming clearer as the chapter goes on as he starts to realize the situation he's in. And there were so many awkward silences and cries in this chapter, trust me, everyone's going to be in a lot better mindset next chapter. Lanyon's feelings were also hard to pin down, as he kind've feels bad for Hyde from a medical standpoint, but that doesn't stop him from being absolutely pissed when he thinks he's meeting him face to face for the first time. Also, I totally googled the symptoms for blunt force trauma so I hope I go them right. Anyways, thank you again for reading and as always, criticism is always welcome! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jekyll spills the beans and has an exciting revelation. Then things take a turn for the worse.

“Wait, so all those times I’ve been talking with Hyde, I was really talking to you?” Rachel questioned, seemingly more confused than she should be at Jekyll’s explanation.

“No! I mean yes… well, sort of… Hyde’s technically a part of me but he’s his own person now and this is his body, at least usually, I’m in control now… sort of…”

Jekyll was trying his best to explain two long years of experiences between him and Hyde, plus several more years of research in the span of only a couple of minutes of dialogue, which in his tired state, was seemingly impossible to accomplish. He was getting nowhere.

“Okay,” he said once again, “Let me start from the top with some basics, I Henry Jekyll, decided to make a potion that could theoretically split one into their good and evil parts, once I thought I discovered the secret to the potion, I used myself as the test subject, and in doing so, created an elixir that could change my body into that of Edward Hyde’s, a being that is immature, rash, selfish and… and…” Henry had to pause to take another breath. He never realized how hard it was to explain all of this before. He never thought it would be an easy task, but it certainly shouldn’t be this difficult to get across, and the head trauma didn’t seem to be helping his situation all that much. _I need to find a simpler way for them to understand,_ thought Henry to himself, _how does Rachel think of Hyde…_

“Rachel? Do you remember the first time you met Hyde?” He finally said. Thinking for a second, Rachel opened her mouth to reply.

“Yes… it was about two years ago, I was making cookies, and you-he I mean-fell into my blackberry bushes and started going off about how he was the ‘Spirit of London at Night’ and ‘emerged from nightmares themselves.’”

 _That sounds about right_ , thought Henry Jekyll remembering back to that cursed night and how full of himself Hyde sounded, even for him.

“Well…” continued Jekyll looking up at Rachel through his newfound lengthy hair, “Let’s just say that was the first night I ever took the potion, and it didn’t exactly go the way I planned. Instead of separating myself into my good and evil halves, the potion seemingly created a being out of my deepest repressed urges, Edward Hyde,” _Of course the first thing he did was jump out of a window,_ he thought recalling all the bruises he had accumulated from his lesser half, “Anyways…” he continued, “…for the past two years we’ve been taking the potion, me taking it to turn into Hyde, and him taking it to turn back into me.”

“So Hyde’s evil?” Rachel asked, looking up at him with wide eyes.

“No, no, no… Hyde’s not evil, he’s just, everything I try not to be…” Jekyll said softly, “That’s probably why we’re so different, different enough for people to keep us separate at the very least besides our appearances I mean.”

“Well, you’re not _that_ different.” Rachel said bluntly, “I knew he was a gentleman playing the role of villain the moment I saw him, didn’t I say so Lanyon?” Looking over at Lanyon it seemed he had once again taken the role of the silent observer, still sitting next to Henry and taking everything in, “Lanyon?” Rachel said once more snapping him out of the daze he was in.

“Right sorry Rachel…and um, Henry” He said sitting up once more, “So basically, your theory of duality, that was the reason for the potion, right?” Looking quite sheepish, it seemed Lanyon wasn’t exactly taking in the situation to the best of his ability. If he hadn’t been the embodiment of the perfect gentleman in Henry’s eyes, some might say, that at the moment, he was a nervous wreck.

“Maybe I should just leave you two alone for a moment,” Rachel sputtered, slowly backing towards the door, “I’ll go get Lucy so we can explain the situation, I’ll be right back…” the door closed with a thud, as she left the two men alone. If the room didn’t have enough awkward silences for the night, Jekyll and Lanyon were suddenly stuck with each other in a frankly strange situation, not knowing what to say to next.

Breaking the silence, Jekyll finally answered Lanyon’s question.

“Yes,” he said slowly, “It was my theory of duality that drove me towards the creation of the potion.”

Sighing, Lanyon stood up from Jekyll’s side and started pacing the room nervously. After a moment, he paused, turning to speak with Jekyll once more.

“I’m sorry if I seem a bit… out of sorts at the moment Henry,” he said not being able to look Henry in the eyes, “It’s just…. This is such a strange situation and I have so many questions about this whole ordeal I don’t even know where to start. Like for one, why didn’t you tell me?” Looking down at the bed, Lanyon could tell that this was the question Jekyll had been dreading the most.

“To be honest, I’m not really sure,” Jekyll said looking up at his friend, “when I was making the potion, I was so excited thinking about what the prospects of its success would be, how happy I was going to be when I told you I had vanquished evil from myself, but after it’s results…” Jekyll paused, taking in his current appearance once more, “I just thought you’d be disappointed in me, I suppose, and even after things got more complicated with Hyde and the police, and I did want to tell you… it just seemed like too much time had past and you would think I had betrayed your trust in keeping such a major aspect of my life a secret for so long,” sighing once more, Jekyll decided to finish with an apology, “I’m sorry I don’t have a better answer, but at least everything can be out in the open now.”

“Okay.” Lanyon said, taking in Jekyll’s explanation word for word, “I think I can understand why you kept it from me, but another thing I’m having a hard time trying to grasp, is _why_ _did you keep taking the potion?_ If it didn’t work for its intended purpose, why on earth would didn’t you forget about it and move on to other projects? Wasn’t it too much trouble for what it’s worth?” Lanyon began pacing again, unsure of himself, and still visibly confused and bewildered by his friend’s bizarre situation.

“It wasn’t that simple!” Jekyll exclaimed, becoming agitated, “Taking the potion….unleashing Hyde…it did something to me, something I can’t reverse…”

“What do you mean?” Lanyon said concerned for his friend’s wellbeing. Unsure what to say next, Jekyll once again started spewing words. Having kept everything a secret for so long, it seemed like Lanyon was going to receive the whole truth or nothing at all.

“It’s not like I wanted to keep taking the potion!” Jekyll cried out, visibly distressed, “….I mean a part of me did, for strictly scientific reasons of course, but after all that…once I knew the full extent of the potion’s abilities…” pausing for a second Jekyll tried to compose himself so his headache wouldn’t start up once more. After a moment of reflection, he finally admitted his dire situation to Lanyon.

“It was Hyde okay, he was making me do it.”

“He… made you take it?” Lanyon said slowly looking over at his friend, eyebrows raised.

“He doesn’t just go away when the potion is reversed.” Jekyll said with dismay, “He’s in my head, taunting me, judging my work, telling me everything I do is wrong with every step I take. He’s in my reflection every time I look in the mirror, and when he’s especially antsy, he floats in front of my vision, distracting me from my work, begging me to let him out for the night. Or he works on my nerves and my insecurities until I give in,” Looking down, Jekyll once again clenched his blanket, not daring to look up lest he sees a look of pity on Lanyon’s face. “And it’s only been getting worse as time goes on…” Jekyll added, “Hyde’s gotten craftier, he’s found a way to unleash my deepest fears on me in the daytime and…” he paused not wanting to say it, “To put it bluntly Robert I’ve been hallucinating, and my stress has been giving Hyde the control he’s always desired. That’s what happened tonight at the party, and that’s why he was able to gain control against my best wishes and drag us to the Bazaar where you found us.” Almost on the verge of tears or passing out once more, Jekyll finished, waiting for his friend to say something about how stupid he had been to get himself into this mess, or leave him in disgust, or any number of other horrible possibilities Jekyll’s mind could imagine.

 _Lanyon’s will never want to see me again after this_ , thought Jekyll, _I’m ruined._ He was so lost in his own thoughts he hadn’t even realized Lanyon had stopped pacing and instead walked back towards his bed to kneel beside him.

“Henry?” He asked softly. Looking up, Henry’s eyes were once more locked with Lanyon’s, “I’m so sorry you had to keep this from me, I should have done more to help you… I knew you were stressed but I was too caught up in my own business to notice. I hope you can forgive me.” He said embracing Jekyll in a rare display of affection, a simple hug. Pushing his head into Lanyon’s shoulders, Jekyll couldn’t believe his ears. _How can he act like he’s the one in the wrong?_ Jekyll thought to himself, _I should be the one to blame for everything that’s happened…_

Just as Jekyll was going to explain how Lanyon wasn’t the one who should be forgiven, the door to the room opened with a loud bang. Suddenly released from their embrace, Lanyon and Jekyll swung their heads towards the sound of the door.

“Sorry if I’m interrupting an intimate moment boys, but can one of you please explain what’s going on, because quite frankly Rachel is making even less sense than usual.”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Evidently, it turned out explaining the situation to Lucy was a lot easier than they thought it would be, especially since they didn’t want to tell her Henry’s situation in the first place. It seemed that Lucy had been on the streets of London for so long, nothing seemed to be able to surprise her anymore.

“I still can’t believe you told her Rachel!” Lanyon said quite agitated. Looking quite huffy, Rachel’s back remained turned to Lanyon who had been on her case for a solid five minutes as Henry continued to answer Lucy’s questions. Finally swirling around to face Lanyon, Rachel snapped back at him.

“Hey! It’s not my fault! She was going to find out anyway-“

“Rachel’s right,” said Lucy impatiently, leaning against the door arms crossed, “Even if she didn’t tell me I would have found out. I did request to speak to Mr. Hyde after all, and as far as I’m concerned I still haven’t had that request fulfilled. Although I must admit, Jekyll’s explanation has answered most of my questions.” Pushing off against the doorframe, she found herself staring at Henry. If he wasn’t answering anyone’s questions, it seemed that in his current state he had reserved himself to silence.

“The only thing that continues to vex me…” Lucy continued, “…is if you look like Edward Hyde right now, why do your eyes and voice seem to take on the appearance of Doctor Jekyll. If your potion is to be believed then right now you shouldn’t even be here.”

 _She’s right,_ thought Lanyon, _upon all accounts, Henry’s presence here doesn’t make any sense._ Lucy’s question had been kicking at the back of his mind as well, but seeing how distressed Henry had been with the simple questions, he thought it best to leave those questions behind, at least until he knew Henry was in a better mental state. Still, a part of Lanyon was glad that Lucy was asking him the question instead of himself.

Jekyll in the meantime seemed to be in a perpetually anxious state. Everyone’s eyes were hyper-focused on him, and he couldn’t help thinking of the nightmares he had been hallucinating as of late. The pulsating masses, the monsters with a million eyes, all silently judging him, consuming his every waking moment as a never-ending extension of his daily anxieties. _But they're not here now,_ Henry slowly realized, _they aren’t here… and neither is Hyde…which means… they can’t control me anymore._ Henry was almost smiling, he had been so distracted by his head trauma and his friends that he didn’t even realize that the consistent noise that had been chattering in his head for the past two years, was _gone._ For the time being, Jekyll was _free_ , and he had never felt more alive with possibilities, even in this shoddy room with a semi fuzzy vision.

Distracted by his own thoughts of wonder and excitement, it was Lanyon who brought Jekyll back to reality.

“Henry are you okay? We seemed to have lost you for a moment…”

Snapping out of his self-induced daze, Henry turned to Lanyon once more.

“Oh sorry… yes I’m fine, I was just thinking…” with the anxiety suddenly lifting off of Jekyll’s shoulders, he suddenly felt like he could do anything, and that included answering any and all of his friend’s questions. _I’ve kept all of this a secret for so long,_ he thought to himself, _it almost feels good to get it out in the open, and why shouldn’t I? I have to do something with the scientific discoveries I made after all…_

“To answer your question, Lucy, I believe the head trauma, mixed with my own free will is to blame.”

“Your own free will? What’s that supposed to mean?” Rachel said, joining the parade of questions once more.

“Well to put it plainly, if my memory serves correctly, tonight seemed to be a turning point between me and Hyde’s fight for control. After Hyde gained control and dragged us to the Bazaar, he seemed to push me into a type of stasis in my mind. I was trapped, unable to hear or see anything going on outside, with nothing but my own nightmares and memories to keep me company…” he decided it was best to leave Mind Lanyon out of this for now, as the story was already strange enough as it was, and he didn’t dare attempt to lose his friend’s attention again, “Anyways, after hours of suffering in the darkness, I decided to take a risk and attempt to fight for control. Hyde had done it before in my body, so I thought that I could do the same. I can’t remember everything that happened…it’s all a bit fuzzy near the end, but I believe that at the exact moment I was grasping onto the coattails of consciousness, Hyde seemed to be hit with a blow to the head, the rush must have done something to him, and left me the one in control.”

Finishing with as much vigour as he could muster, he looked up to see a slowly nodding Lanyon, and two faces of confusion on the brink of understanding.

“So basically what your saying is Hyde got knocked in the head really hard so now he’s out for the count?” Lucy said rather bluntly.

“Basically…” Jekyll replied disappointed that the fight for his very mind and soul was reduced to a mere simple sentence.

Looking him up and down, Lucy, gave a short “hmpff” before turning to Rachel.

“Well that’s all I needed to know, I told you it would make an interesting conversation, take as much time as you need, but make sure those two are out of here by dawn.”

“Wait, you're just going to kick us out!?” Lanyon said referring to himself and Jekyll, “With him in this state are you out of your mind?”

“Well this is a _lady thief’s gang_ ,” Lucy said as matter of fact, “And if you haven’t noticed, you and _moneybags_ here don’t exactly fit the bill. I’ve given you bandages, a place to rest, and _privacy from the girls._ I’d say I’ve been more than enough hospitable given the circumstances. Besides, he’s fine, look at him, he’s practically shaking with energy.”

It was true, in the span of five minutes it seemed like Jekyll went from being bedridden to practically making the bedframe shake. He was a bundle of nerves and not in the nervous kind of way. He was awake and excited, and just felt he needed to get up and _do something_.

“She’s right Lanyon,” Jekyll said rather quickly, “I feel fine, better than before actually, this is probably the first real sleep I’ve had in days…. Thank you, Lucy.” He said looking up at her smiling.

“Don’t mention it...” Lucy mumbled under her breathe with a scowl on her face, she was obviously not a fan of being treated like a gentle lady. Looking between them, it was obvious that both Lanyon and Rachel were still concerned with Henry’s wellbeing.

“Are you sure you don’t need more rest, Henry?” Lanyon asked calmly, “Your head trauma isn’t limited to what happened to Hyde and your consciousness… it could have serious physical repercussions as well.”

“I am well aware Lanyon, but I feel _fine._ We went to the same med school after all, if any of the long term blunt force trauma symptoms start to appear, you’ll be the first to know, _I promise_.”

 _I certainly hope so,_ thought Lanyon, _but those aren’t the type of ‘symptoms’ I’m worried about._ The truth of the matter was, that what Lanyon was worried about more than anything else was the possibility of Hyde reappearing. He technically still hadn’t met the man yet, Henry’s current appearance and state of consciousness put aside.

“Besides,” Henry said interjecting Lanyon’s thoughts, “…the Society needs me! I still need to get everyone back on board for the exhibition, and the paperwork is always piling up, and I’ve got Frankenstein to deal with…” Lanyon tried to stop him as he tried to get out of bed.

“Henry!” he said grabbing Jekyll by the shoulders, “You’re forgetting one important detail. I’m sorry to put a damper on things… but how exactly can you accomplish anything if you look like… well, this.” 

“Oh right,” Henry said remembering his current predicament, “I’ll just have to change back then, Rachel could you be so kind as to pass me Hyde’s coat?”

 _Gosh, it’s weird seeing Hyde’s body acting like this,_ thought Rachel once more, _manners do not suit his face well, or that kind of gentle smile, it’s freaking me out…”_

Passing the coat to Jekyll, he immediately began to riffle through Hyde’s pockets.

“What are you looking for?” Rachel said, asking the hundredth question the walls had heard that evening.

“It should be here… ah! There it is! Hyde stole some of the potions from the lab before he left, he was planning to blackmail me with it, but now I can use it to just change back…”

Reaching out to stop him, Lanyon was almost more concerned than he had been previously at any other moment from that night.

“Wait! Henry are you sure that’s such a good idea-”

Before Lanyon could finish his sentence, Jekyll was already too far ahead of him to be stopped. Without thinking of the consequences, Jekyll had uncapped the lid and swallowed the potion. And despite everything else that happened that night, that was the moment when Henry Jekyll realised something was horribly wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So despite what I said, it turns out this chapter was much more difficult to write than the last chapter. I was trying to keep the exposition on the low down and balance it out with important character moments, so hopefully, it's still enjoyable to read. Also if it sounds like I hate Hyde, I really don't, I love the blonde gremlin, but writing from Lanyon and Henry's point of view, you could see why they're more than a bit salty after the last few days. Anyways what possibly could happen next... what will it be like as my fanfic officially becomes noncanon with tomorrow's update? You'll have to keep reading to find out! Thanks again everyone! Stay safe :)

**Author's Note:**

> I just finished my exams for the year and just finished reading the last update, as with every update I started thinking and making theories and found this one too juicy to pass up! I know this is not how Sabrina's story will go, but I thought I would have fun with it. This is the first fanfic I've ever written so criticism is welcome! :)


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